Band:	Dark Tranquillity
Album:	Damage Done
Style:	Gothenburg metal
Release date:	August 20, 2002
A review by:	Dream Taster

01. Final Resistance
02. Hours Passed In Exile
03. Monochromatic Stains
04. Single Part Of Two
05. The Treason Wall
06. Format C: For Cortex
07. Damage Done
08. Cathode Ray Sunshine
09. The Enemy
10. I, Deception
11. White Noise / Black Silence
12. Ex Nihilo
13. The Poison Well [Japanese bonus]
14. Static [bonus]

Ladies and gentlemen, Dark Tranquillity is proud to introduce their latest bombshell and you better give it a listen! In the typical current trend to make the now famous Gothenburg sound progress, "Damage Done" is the cornerstone of the arising splendid edifice. The band of Niklas Sundin [guitars] and Mikael Stanne [vocals] is still on top of everybody else in terms of creating headbanging riffs and memorable anthems and this album is an endowment to every metal freak on Earth.

Keyboards are more present than ever but it's only to emphasize the power of the guitars and the majestic Death voice of Stanne. "Damage Done" merges everything I like in Metal, and that with a level of dexterity rarely shown nowadays. There is no comparison possible with what In Flames tried to achieve lately, Dark Tranquillity takes the cake and the crumbs. The whirlpool of madness starts as soon as one pushes the play button and never seems to stop. 'Final Resistance', 'Hours Passed In Exile', 'Monochromatic Stains' and 'Single Part Of Two' form a terrific quator of masterpieces and the rest of the album is at the same level! Atmospheric headbanging is in the air, the Swedes are in the place. 'The Enemy' is another track that needs your consideration with its piano lines merged into Metal faultlessness, but as I said before, none of these songs sounds like a filler to me.

I wonder when these guys will stop blowing my mind, but it's not for this year. "Damage Done" is a concentrate of what Melodic Death Metal has best to offer. Dark Tranquillity earned its title of leader of the so-called Gothenburg sound, and they are not going to surrender it anytime soon. A must-have, an extraordinary experience, a tremendous strength that makes you want to disregard everything else about music, that's what this album is all about! Get it blindfolded and enjoy until your last breath.